1. Good Eats: this isn't just another cooking show, it's a cooking show as science, as performance art, as standup, as a one-man play. Alton Brown manages to make cooking fun and witty and interesting. All cooking shows should take cues from him.
2. Unwrapped: I'm always fascinated with food and it's connections to American pop culture, and what better way to explore that than in a show about American junk food and fast food? A really fun show.
3. 30 Minute Meals: OK, OK, I know a lot of you are going to disagree with me here. I mean, Rachael Ray has 20 shows on the channel and you either love her or hate her. I happen to think she's fun to watch, and the stuff she makes (and the way she makes it) is something I can really identify with. I can picture myself in my kitchen making and eating the stuff that she does, and that's her goal, right?
4. Food 911: Like Brown, host Tyler Florence puts a different spin on the typical cooking show, going to homes and cooking with other people, while giving little kitchen how-tos that we can use for our own meals. Great varied menus too. (How To Boil Water is a cool show too.)
5. Sara's Secrets: I'm still kinda ticked that they cancelled Sara Moulton's other show, Cooking Live. Man, I loved that show, and the fact that it was live and had guests and you could call in with questions and your own recipes...that made it all the more special. There's really nothing like that on the network now. So, this is a protest vote as well as a vote for Moulton herself, who also seems to give her recipes an interesting twist without going overboard (are you listening, Emeril?)
6. Semi-Homemade Cooking: Host Sandra Lee has her detractors, but I'm sorry, I think she has one of the most interesting shows on the channel. Like Ray, she makes stuff that I can identify with, using stuff that I probably bought last night when I went grocery shopping. Lots of fantastic tips and tricks on this show. Seriously.
7. The Secret Life Of...: Because it's like Unwrapped, only for regular meals and other foods you eat every single day. I like how host Jim O'Connor travels around and really gets involved with the people and companies he's covering.
8. Paula's Home Cooking: I love the fact that Paula Deen cooks the good stuff, the comfort food, the big meals, with no real emphasis on calories or low fat or low carb or whatever. By making some really great American meals, something that's rather ordinary for all of us, she manages somehow to have one of the more original shows on the Food Network.
I almost picked one of Jaime Oliver's shows, because it's very English and shows a world that American foodies don't often explore. I mean, where else can you see a recipe for My Mum's Spottier Dick?
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